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Tractor for the BTO's...

B

Bob

Well-known Member
...of 71 years ago!

<img src = "https://i.imgur.com/rwNXAag.jpg">

<img src = "https://i.imgur.com/tqiMgYr.jpg">

Nebraska test 43.15 drawbar HP, 1001 engine RPM, 4.05 MPH
 
I guess that means I?d be a BTO 70 years ago.
cvphoto6704.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 12:14:50 02/28/20) I guess that means I?d be a BTO 70 years ago.
&lt;img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto6704.jpg"&gt;
Click to expand...

Having owned four 2-cylinder DEERE diesels, I can hear (and smell) that all the way from here!
 
international harvester had the their most powerful tractor out 85 years ago in 1935 which was the first diesel tractor in north America. the john deere R was out 14 years later with their diesel. WD40 had 461 cid. the R had 415 cid. both tractors would be in the same horse power range of just under 50 h.p. john deere does get the prise for the longest running model D for like 29 years. so the R would have been a big improvement. international was still in the lead at the time. at the antique tractor pulls I have out pulled R's lots of times with my WD40.
 
I was a BTO and didn't know it--I sold it 4 yrs ago to s Amish man out in Indiana--Now I'm a LTO---Tee
cvphoto6706.jpg
 
Yep, the 2-cylinder Deere diesels are something else. It was the most
wonderful sound when I heard my R come to life after I rebuilt it (I'd
never heard it run before)!
 
The Massey Harris 55 was advertised as the most powerful gas tractor on rubber in the late 40s early 50s....and, according to the Nebraska Tractor test, it held the title til 1958....

Ben
 
I guess I started out as a BTO! This is me on my first birthday on the new R that my father bought in 1952. I spent many, many hours on it in later years. Pulled a 14 foot field cultivator, 12 foot disc, and lots of hours baling hay with a JD 14T with a kicker.
cvphoto6711.jpg
 
The case LA bested the jd as far as go too. But they only claim it to be the most powerful jd, no claim of most powerful.
 
We had one in the late 50s. We also had a IH W9 and IH WD9. Over 20,000 Rs were made and began a string of fuel economy records the 2 cylinder diesels would set.
 
Problem is the LA was a gasser. They might have had a slight horsepower advantage but that didn't make up for all the fuel it would consume. If I had to farm sizable acreage between the R and LA or 55 gasser, I know which one I would want to make a living with.
 
My great old tractor pal Kenny talks about the LA Case he had in the late 50s - early 60s.
He says it was a very powerful machine but would burn most of a barrel of gas a day.
 
The gas usage was true, but the difference between 43 hp and 58 rated or 48 and 59 tested is not minor. And by the end of the R case had come with the 500 which was even further ahead and at least as fuel efficient.
 
The jd was rated at 43 and the LA at 58, they tested at 48 and 59 respectively. It is not an idle claim. And when the 500 came out jd couldn't claim a fuel efficiency advantage either.
 
altho im an ih guy, always wanted a pony start jd r. just something about it. would look nice next to my w9 ! gotta find some way so momma dont spot it if i get one!,,,
 
Actually, the Nebraska test show both the R and 80 with a slight fuel efficiency over the 500.....at 17 hp her per gallon vs. 16 for the 500.

Ben
 
JD could claim the fuel title when the 70 diesel came out only a few years after the 500. And then the 720 took over that title.
 
Lots of threshers men preferred the LA to run the threshing machine...Good engine as they would say. And I would much rather drive the LA all day than any 2 cylinder Deere.
Ben
 
Minor or not burning twice as much fuel a day that cost more gets expensive after awhile. IH WD-9s weren?t any bigger then the R to start with and they were extremely popular too. There was a reason for that. I would like to see the annual sales of the LA starting after WW II going all the way to the end and see if there was a drop off when diesel tractors from other companies started picking up in sales.

Also the LA had 55 drawbar horsepower and the 500 only had 3 more. So they were fairly close. The JD 80 came out during the last two years of the 500 and it had a hair more horsepower. I also have a pair of 500s and I like them. From the dash forward they were about the most advance tractor on the market in its class. From the dash back it was still stuck in the 1930s.
 
Just tell her you are storing it for a friend. Don't tell her that the friend is your youthful want gene.
 
They took care of that with the 600 and 900 and the 6 spd trany. Then the 930 with the larger engine and later comfort king made them a real nice tractor for drawbar work. That chain drive rear gave them a real advantage in pulling which is why the out pulled even larger hp tractors. Many case guys will claim the 930 6spd will out pull the 1030 and having driven both I'm sure it's close.
 
Talked to a WWII vet about 30 years ago- said he came back from the war and nobody had plowed anything the whole time he was gone, so he plowed the whole place with a Case LA. Said he would take a 55 gallon barrel of gas out every morning- plowed until the gas was gone, then went home with the barrel and refilled it for the next morning. He kind of smiled and said "I was never late for supper".
 
I don't doubt that. I've never driven one but heard they were thirsty. But then a G or 70gas will be about that bad and only pull 3 bottoms.
 
Around 1976 I purchase a JD "R".....then a parts JD "R" around 1980.

Farmed 100 acres........also ran a sawmill 48" head rig......

Loved the sound and fire from the exhaust,when temp was around 38deg F ploughing in October, late at night......:)


Bob....
 
Wow, I am a BTO. I use my R every spring to chisel plow if I am going to seed some new pasture or hay ground. A 12 foot plow with spikes is all that tractor wants. I also use it to pull a pto manure spreader. The neighbors like it when I start it. The R was the first tractor I drove when I was first helping dad farm. I like my 1953 R. Bud
 
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